Enforce that court order in Caledonia; Untie the hands of police and let them do what judge ordered them to do

www.owensoundsuntimes.com

Owen Sound Sun Times
Editorial - Tuesday, August 15, 2006 @ 08:00

The ruling last week by an Ontario Court judge was exactly what the land dispute in caledonia demands. It's too bad the provincial government couldn't understand that.

On Tuesday, Superior Court Judge David Marshall said that negotiations between the province and disgruntled natives must cease until the natives leave a disputed piece of property in the southern Ontario community. Marshall used words such as "lawlessness" to characterize the occupation, which began in February when natives who claimed ancient title moved onto land scheduled for development and erected barricades blocking a highway into town.

In March, Marshall had issued an order that the natives must leave. They did not, and police have done precious little about it.

The OPP - or its civilian masters - is clearly cowed. The force is still taking a public-relations bath over the Ipperwash protest, in which a native man, Dudley George, who was part of a group occupying a provincial park, was shot and killed. The OPP is doing anything it can to avoid another such confrontation, even if it means behaving more like bellhops than police officers.

What has occurred as a result of the natives' failure to obey the court? Tension between native and non-native residents continues. The province bought the property from the developer. The highway barricade came down, but the natives have threatened at various times to put it back if things don't start going their way.

Last week, Marshall did what had to be done. He said enough is enough: You've had five months to settle things. Now it's time to do as the court told you. "The court has been patient but the court cannot turn a blind eye to blatant contempt of the court's lawful order," he said.

The province has chosen to appeal Marshall's decision, claiming the court "had no jurisdiction to order the parties to cease negotiating." That's not what Marshall did. He said there can be no negotiations while the natives stay on the land in question. That's a reasonable stance.

By appealing Marshall's decision, the province has thrown its lot in with thugs and bullies and endorsed the weakness of its police force. By doing so, it sends a poor signal to the rest of us.

It's telling us, for example, that it's all right to take such steps if we're not satisfied that a negotiation is proceeding as well or as quickly as we'd like. It's telling us that our government thinks it's OK for police to stand idly by while we do so (or else it's telling us there's an acceptable double standard when it comes to enforcement).

It's telling us such things without any indication of where the trend might end. With a litany of unresolved native land claims across the country, including one to the north of Kingston near Ardoch, this is not an insignificant consideration.

To suggest that Judge Marshall's order cannot be enforced because of the possibility of bloodshed is ridiculous. Taken to its extreme, ignoring a court order would mean police would never try to arrest an armed suspect, would never come to the scene of a violent crime. It also presumes the natives would necessarily become violent if attempts were made to arrest or remove them were made. That's an unfair stereotype.

Untie the hands of police. Let them enforce the court order. Then we can talk, without the threats and posturing of one side hanging over the other.